Garment



July 5, 1938. E. D. KATTERMANN 20,735

- GARMENT Original Filed Nov. 10, 1935 FIG- Z5 I z i; z +24. 13

FIG.3.I 22 T '22 cl b a x I 4. A A l 2- I INVENTOR I I v .a a',b I h bBx 3 ATTORNEY Reissued July 5, 1938 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEGARMENT Emil D. Kattermann, Dover, N. J., assignor to Swiss KnittingCompany, Dover, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original No.2,045,391,

rial No. 697,424,

tion for reissue May 19,

6 Claims.

in at least one direction and, if desired, simultaneously in alldirections, that is to say both longitudinally and transversely of thegarment. Such material may conveniently be referred to as one-way ortwo-way stretch or one-way or two-way elastic material.

An important feature of the invention is the formation of a part of theelastic material of the garment in such a. way that stays for givingrigidity and support to portions of the garment may be incorporatedwithout adding materially to the thickness or bulk of the garment at thepoints where the stays are inserted. This is accomplishedfby forming alongitudinally extending welt in the fabric at each point where a stayis to be used. The formation of such a welt will provide a pocket of anydesired width and length into which the stay may be placed in the courseof producing the fabric. This not only provides an unusually neat effectbut the usual bulklness and attendant discomfort resulting from the for-Qmation of stay pockets by the addition of tapes and the like to oneface of the finished fabric is avoided. Even more important is theproduction of a stay pocket in this way which will not interfere withthe stretch of the elastic material.

If the pocket were formed in the way ordinarlly employed in connectionwith non-elastic fabrics, by the stitching of a separate tape to oneface of the fabric there would be interference with the longitudinalstretch of the material. Even if the tape or strip used for this purposewere itself capable of stretching longitudinally, the difficulty wouldnot be completely solved since the stitching would still interferewiththe stretch. Furthermore, the stitching would have a tendency to tearthe fabric or permanently distort some of the threads.

The invention may be practiced in connection with a garment employingeither a woven or a knit elastic fabric. advantage, however, in a knitconstruction and it has accordingly been specifically illustrated inconnection with a garment of this type.

Various objects and advantages of the invention, in addition to thoseabove pointed out, will become apparent from the detailed description ofan illustrative form of the invention which will It may be used toparticular dated June 23, i936, Se-

November 10, 1933. Applica- 1938, Serial No. 208,855

now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is'a perspective view from the front of a garment embodying thefeatures of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale along the line 2-2 ofFigure 1, showing a detail of the construction; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner in which thestay-receiving pockets are produced.

Referringnow to the drawing, there is illustrated a girdle adapted toextend from a point at or above the waistline to a point well below thebuttocks. It comprises a front section II) and a rear section II joinedat the two sides by longitudinal seams l2 and I 3, uous body-encirclingmember. The front section may conveniently be formed with a number ofdifferent styles of knitting. For example, the top'portion ll of thissection may be produced with one style of stitch adapted to allow asomewhat easier and greater stretch than a section I5 below a dividingline It. The portion l5 may conveniently be formed with a type of stitchadapted to exert a relatively firm transverse tension so as to produce afirm confining action over the abdomen of the wearer. If desired, theportion l5 may be continued with the same type of stitch to a point nearthe bottom of the garment. It is preferred, however, to modify thestitch somewhat at a point about half way down, as indicated by the lineH in Figure 1. This, then, provides for a still diil'erent type ofstitch in a portion l8 ofthe garment substantially in line with thehips. The difference between the portions l5 and I8 may. for example,comprise the inclusion of laid-in elastic threads in the portion l5extending across the garment and the omission of these laid-in threadsin the portion I8. Other schemes might be substituted for this toproduce the desired effect. The bottom of the garment below the line l9may be formed by a still different type of stitchj This bottom portion20 is preferably of such construction that it will stretch relativelyeasily so as not to create. any uncomfortable and undue confinement atthe bottom of the garment which surrounds the thighs. The stitchemployed in this portion may conveniently be substantially the same asthat employed in the portion ll without, however, including transverselyextending laid-in elastic threads, preferably provided in the section I.

The front section III of the garment is preferably also divided intodifferent types of knitting thus forming a contin- Y in differentlongitudinal zones. For example, the longitudinally extending areas 2|indicated in Figure 1 may be formed with a somewhat different type ofstitch from the areas to either side of and between the zones 2 I. Forexample, the knitting in the areas 2| may be somewhat closer than in theother areas. In the knitting of the fabric forming the front section Hi,there should be employed a knitting machine provided with separate camcontrols for different groups of needles. For example, the groups ofneedles 22 adapted to form the areas to each side of and between theareas 2| may be somewhat longer than the needles 23 adapted to producethe areas 2| and different cams may be provided for controlling theneedles 22 and 23, respectively. Furthermore, the machine should beprovided with suitable controls, well known in the knitting art, forvarying the style or nature of the stitch in all or a part of the zonesas the knitting of the fabric progresses.

Now, as the line I! is reached in the course of knitting the fabric fromthe lower end as shown, the groups of needles 23, which have beenknitting the longitudinal -areas 2|, may be so controlled that uponmovement of the thread carriage in one direction across the machine,only those needles on one side of the line of the fabric will be,operated to form loops while on the return movement of the threadcarriage, the needles 23 on the opposite side of the line of the fabricwill be operated to form loops. On the other hand, the needles 22 may beso controlled that they will continue at this time to operate on bothsides of the line of the fabric duringmovement of the thread carriage inboth directions. This will result in the formationof a single, thickfabric by means of the needles 22 and a divided or double fabric of twothin layers by means of the needles 23. 4

The operation is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 3 in which aindicates the course of thread laid down in the movement of the carriagetoward the right, b indicates the thread laid down upon the returnmovement of the carriage toward the left while a and 1) indicatecorresponding threads laid down during the preceding reciprocation ofthe carriage. Thus, as the thread carriage moves toward the right, asindicated by the arrows X, the thread a will be engaged by all of theneedles 22 to form loops on both sides of the fabric, interengaged withthe loops previously formed by the course of thread'b. However, as thearea produced by the needles 23 is reached, only those needles on oneside of the fabric will produce loops interengaged with the loopspreviously formed by the course of thread a, and hence a relatively thinfabric will be produced over this area. Upon then reaching the zone ofaction of the next group of needles 22, the loops will be formed on bothsides ofthe fabric by interengagement with the preceding course I), andso on across the material. Upon the return movement of the threadcarriage in the direction of the arrow Y, the needles 22 will againoperate to form loops on both sides of the fabric from the course ofthread b interengaged with the loops previously formed by the thread awhile when the zone of the needles 23 is reached only those on theopposite face of the fabric from those originally operating will work toproduce a second thin section of fabric across the area 2|. This will bedone by interengagement of the new course of thread 11 with the course blaid down on the preceding return movement of the thread carriage. Asthe knitting progresses it will be apparent that a longitudinallyextending welt is formed of any desired width, depending upon the numberand spacing of the needles 23 in each group.

Any number of welts may be produced, two being illustrated in thedrawing. These welts provide longitudinally extending pockets which areintegral with the material and adapted to receive stays 24 or otherstiffening elements, or the like. These stays may be convenientlyinserted after the full length of the pockets has been completed, forexample up to the line 25 in Figure 1. After the stays have beeninserted, the needles 23 on the opposite sides of the fabric may againbe controlled in such a way that these needles will operate to formloops on both sides of the fabric during the passage of the threadcarriage in both directions. In this 'way the upper ends of the pocketsformed by the welts will be closed and the garment may be extendedbeyond the stays for any desired distance. Preferably only a smallsection of the garment will be left above the ends of the stays, if thegarment is of the girdle type, inasmuch as the primary purpose of thestays is to lend support and stiffness to the top portion of the garmentand to the region overlying the abdomen. Obviously, the welts or pocketsmight be formed at. any other point in the material and the staysinserted wherever it is desired to lend support and stiffness to thegarment. If a combination garment including a brassiere portion isproduced the stays will ordinarily bearranged some distance down fromthe upper edge of the garment.

The back section H of the garment may be formed in substantially thesame way as the front section, if desired, or an entirely different sortof fabric may be employed. Preferably it will at least have top andbottom portions, corresponding to the portions l4 and 20 of the frontsection, of a somewhat different style of knit-from the intermediateportion. 7

In the knitting of the sections and II, they may, if desired, be formedas individual lengths of fabric removed from the machine upon thecompletion of each section. On the other hand, if desired the knittingmay be conducted more or less continuously so that a series of sectionswill be produced in one continuous knitting operation and these sectionsthen cut apart upon the completion of a desired number. In any event, itwill be desirable to provide a binding strip or suitable stitching 26along the free edge of the material to prevent unraveling of the knitloops.

As will be understood, the fabric as it is knit will be stretchedtransversely to two or more times its normal contracted width and itwill also be placed under a longitudinal tension. This enables theproduction of a fabric which is of reasonably .close texture whenstretched and is exceptionally close when drawn together under thecontractive force of the elastic. Ordinarily it will be preferable toutilize both elastic and non-elastic threads in the knitting of thefabric.

For example, the elastic and non-elastic threads may be alternatelyintroduced or several courses of one type of thread may be alternatedwith tion.

merous changes may be made without departing from the general spirit andscope of the inven- For example, as previously stated, the fabric withintegral stay-receiving pockets may be woven instead 01 knit, ifdesired.- Furthermore, the material embodying these pockets and thestays may be employed at quite difierent points in a garment-as desired.This material may have one-way or two-way stretch. They may be placed atthe sides or back in addition to or in lieu of the front. Certainportions of the garment may be formed of completely nonelastic materialor of one-way elastic material, if desired. The section embodying thestays may be knit or woven with the same stitch throughout if desired,except for the formation of the welts wherever a stay is to be inserted.Other modifications will suggest themselves to persons skilled in theart.

What I claim is: V

1. A garment of the class described comprising a body-encircling memberhaving a portion formed of elastic material extending over the abdomen,a pocket integral with said material and extending substantiallylongitudinally of the garment, said pocket having elasticity andterminating at both ends some distance from the.

upper and lower edges of the elastic portion, the

ends of said pocket being substantially closed -by' the interengagementof the threads forming the walls of the pocket, and stiffening meanswithin said pocket. 2. In a garment of the class described, a memberadapted to encircle the body of the wearer and confine the abdomen, saidmember having a portion thereof formed of material produced in part fromelastic yarn and capable of stretching simultaneously bothlongitudinally and transversely of the wearer of the garment, saidportion having the threads therein so arranged as to providean-integral, longitudinally extending pocket closed at both ends by theinterengagement of the threads formingthe walls of the pocket, andstifi'ening means enclosed in said pocket, said pocket being capable ofstretching simultaneously in both directions in unison with theremainder of said portion and without interference by said stiffeningmeans. a

3. In a garment of the class described, a member adapted to encircle thebody of the wearer and confine the abdomen,.said member having a portionthereof formed of material knit in part from elastic yarn and capable'ofstretching simultaneously in two dimensions, said portion' beingprimarily of rib knit formation but having a part in which the ribs havebeen omitted pocket being closed at r 4. A method of producing anabdomen con-,

fining garment of the class describedwhich comprises rib knitting asectionof the garment in part of elastic thread, controlling the needlesin the course of knitting to form a longitudinally extending welt havingthe width of a plurality of the ribs in the preceding rib knit section,inserting ;a stiffening element in the pocket so formed, and closing theend of the pocket by continuing the knitting of said section in ribformation without the welt.

5. In a garment of the class described, a member adapted to encircle thebody of the wearer, said member having a portion thereof formed ofmaterial produced in part from elastic yarn, said portion having'thethreads therein so arranged as to provide an integral, longitudinallyextending pocket'substantially closed at bothends by the interengagementof the threads forming the walls of the pocket, and stiffening meansenclosed in said pocket, said pocket being capable of stretching withthe remainder of said portionand without interferenoeby said stiffeningmeans. 6. In a garment of the. class described a member adapted toencircle the body of the wearer and confine the abdomen, said memberhaving a portion thereof formed of material knit in-part from elasticyarn, said portion being primarily of rib knit formation but having apart in which the ribs have beenomitted to provide an integral,longitudinally extending pocket of the width of a plurality of the ribsin the rib knit portion; said pocket being closed at both ends byresump- 'tion of the rib formation, and stiffening means enclosed insaid pocket, said pocket being capable of stretching with the remainderof said portion and without interference by said stiffening means.

